by Ronald Clark, Jr. | Dec 16, 2020 | Inmate Contributors
Physical mental and emotional torture. That’s what solitary confinement amounts to. And is this just my opinion from my own personal experience? No this is scientifically proven. What I’m about to share is scientific testimony out of case law, which you can find on any legal website, under WILLIAMS VS. SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPT OF CORRECTIONS
848 F.3d 549 2017U.S.App.LEXIS 2327
“The Scientific Consensus”
The robust body of scientific research on the effects of solitary confinement, combined with the Supreme Court’s analysis in Wilkinson and ours in Shoats, further informs our inquiry into Plaintiffs’ claim that they had a liberty interest in avoiding the extreme conditions of solitary confinement on death row. This research contextualizes and confirms the holdings in Wilkinson and Shoats: It is now clear that the deprivations of protracted solitary confinement so exceeds the typical deprivations of imprisonment as to be the kind of”atypical, significant deprivation […] which [can] create a liberty interest.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of the existing literature on solitary confinement within and beyond the criminal justice setting found that the empirical record compels an UNMISTAKABLE CONCLUSION: This experience is psychologically painful, can be traumatic and harmful, and puts many of those who have been subject to it at great risk of long term […] damage. Specifically, based on an examination of a representative sample of sensory deprivation studies, the researchers found that virtually everyone exposed to such conditions is affected in some way. They further explained that there is not a single study of solitary confinement wherein non-voluntary confinement that lasted for longer than 10 days failed to result in negative psychological effects. And as another researcher elaborated, All [individuals subjected to solitary confinement] will experience […] a degree of stupor, difficulties with thinking and concentration, obsessional thinking, agitation, irritability and difficulty tolerating external stimuli. Anxiety and panic are common side effects. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, hallucinations, paranoia, claustrophobia, and suicidal ideations are also frequent results. Additional studies include in the aforementioned meta-analysis further”underscored the importance of social contact for the creation and maintenance of self.” In other words, in absence of interaction with others, an individual’s very identity is at risk of disintegration.
Yes these studies and case laws speak of volumes of psychological torture that we are undergoing. I suffer with all of those symptoms. And I’ve often wondered why, not realizing it’s this cage that is causing them. Where is the evolving standard of decency that this country continues to speak about in the courts, congress, and senate? You’re driving men insane! And then murdering them under this false concept of justice, when everyone knows that a rich man will never enter one of America’s death chambers. Equality is a pipedream, a fallacy that America presents for the world. We’ve seen it far too many times, that innocent men and women have slipped through the cracks of America’s judicial system, and suffered irreversible harm, in these cages of doom. Warehoused for death. There’s no sugarcoating this hellish experience.
So if you wonder why I’m anxious, agitated, compulsive, depressed etc., read the report again and again. And then imagine what I go through every single day. For not only do I struggle with this cage, but the fact that my co-defendant/childhood friend the triggerman, is on the street, returned to his life, as I sit here now second guessing myself about not accepting the plea bargain that was offered to me, which would have set me free in 2015. Yes .. shoulda, woulda, coulda. This cage, and this treatment are inhumane and unbecoming of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and perpetrated in the name of God, justice and the American way.
Just wanted to share and give you some insight into an experience that I pray you will never experience. God bless.
by Melissa Schmitt | Jul 26, 2020 | Interviews
Our friend Jack Erdie produces and hosts a podcast called Plague Talk. The
July 26, 2020 episode features Melissa Schmitt, and follows the
previous episode which featured her husband Jacob.
Melissa talks about how our perverse and tyrannical criminal justice system derails lives, devastates families, destroys communities and how its very personal invasion of her life drove her to make a difference in the lives of our discarded incarcerated populations.
by Ronald Clark, Jr. | Feb 19, 2020 | Inmate Contributors
Physical mental and emotional torture. That’s what solitary confinement amounts to. Is this just my opinion from my own personal experience? No – this is scientifically proven. What I’m about to share is scientific testimony out of case law, which you can find on any legal website, under WILLIAMS VS. SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPT OF CORRECTIONS 848 F.3d 549 2017 U.S. App.LEXIS 2327.
“The Scientific Consensus”
The robust body of scientific research on the effects of solitary confinement, combined with the Supreme Court’s analysis in Wilkinson and ours in Shoats, further informs our inquiry into Plaintiffs’ claim that they had a liberty interest in avoiding the extreme conditions of solitary confinement on death row. This research contextualizes and confirms the holdings in Wilkinson and Shoats: It is now clear that the deprivations of protracted solitary confinement so exceeds the typical deprivations of imprisonment as to be the kind of”atypical, significant deprivation . . . which [can] create a liberty interest.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of the existing literature on solitary confinement within and beyond the criminal justice setting found that the empirical record compels an unmistakable conclusion: This experience is psychologically painful, can be traumatic and harmful, and puts many of those who have been subject to it at great risk of long term damage. Specifically, based on an examination of a representative sample of sensory deprivation studies, the researchers found that virtually everyone exposed to such conditions is affected in some way. They further explained that there is not a single study of solitary confinement wherein non-voluntary confinement that lasted for longer than 10 days failed to result in negative psychological effects. And as another researcher elaborated, All [individuals subjected to solitary confinement] will [. . .] experience a degree of stupor, difficulties with thinking and concentration, obsessional thinking, agitation, irritability and difficulty tolerating external stimuli. Anxiety and panic are common side effects. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, hallucinations, paranoia, claustrophobia, and suicidal ideations are also frequent results. Additional studies include in the aforementioned meta-analysis further “underscored the importance of social contact for the creation and maintenance of self.” In other words, in absence of interaction with others, an individual’s very identity is at risk of disintegration.
Yes, the studies and case law speak volumes about the psychological torture that we are undergoing. I suffer with all of those symptoms. And I’ve often wondered why, not realizing it’s this cage that is causing them. Where is the evolving standard of decency that this country continues to speak about in the Courts, Congress, and Senate? You’re driving men insane! And then murdering them under this false concept of ‘equal justice.’ When everyone knows that a rich man will never enter one of America’s death chambers. Equality is a pipedream, a facade that America puts on for the world. We’ve seen it far too many times, innocent men and women have slipped through the cracks of America’s judicial system, and suffered irreversible harm, in these cages of doom. That’s all this is, a cage of doom! Warehoused for death. There’s no sugarcoating this hellish experience!
So when you wonder why I’m anxious, agitated, compulsive, depressed etc., etc. Well read the report again and again. And then imagine what I go through every single day. For not only do I struggle with this cage, but the fact that my co-defendant/childhood friend the triggerman, is on the street returned to his life, as I sit here, now second guessing myself on not accepting the plea bargain that was offered to me, which would have set me free in 2015. Yes .. should have, would have, could have! The fact still remains, that this cage, this treatment is inhumane and unbecoming of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! For this inhumane treatment is perpetrated in the name of God, justice, and the American way.
Just wanted to share and give you some insight into an experience that I pray you will never experience. God bless.
In peace and love, Ronnie
Ronald W. Clark Jr #812974
U.C.I. P-Dorm
PO Box 1000
Raiford, Florida 32083
by Rick Fisk | Jul 8, 2015 | From the Inside
It was a beautiful, warm, spring day in 1973. A few puffy white clouds dotted the otherwise blue sky over Tucson as my Dad guided our car to Old Tucson, the site of many a Hollywood-produced western. It was here that I had learned about facades. The false-fronted buildings which served to disguise the lack of substance behind most of the town’s establishments.
Forty-one years later, handcuffed to a fellow inmate, I traveled from the downtown Austin, Texas courthouse to the Del Valle jail facility in a Sheriff’s bus. I had just signed a plea agreement sentencing me to an eight year prison term. The otherwise overcast Autumn sky was broken up occasionally with beams of sunlight. After waiting sixteen months for my day in court, I finally saw the inside of a criminal courtroom. I made my way into that courtroom (the first I had ever seen personally) by a route known only to inmates and court officials. To juries and spectators, the labyrinths, holding cells, visitation rooms and lobbies which exist behind the veneer of the courtrooms are unknown.
I struggled not to slip out of a bench seat unadorned with seat belts and thought of my recent journey and transformation: from naive and ignorant idealist, to shocked, dismayed, and convicted felon. In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined such an outcome. I tried to convince myself that I had done the best thing, even though I had pleaded for others in similar circumstances never to give into prosecutors’ bullying tactics.
I struggled against the centrifugal force which threatened to push me against my partner as the bus turned right onto Bill Price Road. A similar struggle against an inner voice was taking place at the same time.
“Hypocrite!” it accused. My body won its battle and my partner was saved from discomfort. My psyche wasn’t so fortunate. I had done that which I had counseled against. Twenty-plus felony counts – potentially multiple life terms – traded for a plea. Innocence traded for guilt. Not even my own paid attorney had any confidence in the system. My newfound acquaintances, some far less naive than I, tried to warn me, but I had, until this day, opted for idealism instead. As the bus pulled into the facility and the massive gate slid away, my head hung low and I thought of the stark contrast between the dark wood hues of the courtroom and the dirty cinder block and steel rooms behind its walls.
The similarity of the facades built for Ford or Huston’s cinema works and the burnt orange carpet and mahogany veneers of the courtroom hit me. Each facade hides a certain lack of substance, a fantasy that is important to preserve in the mind of the casual observer. Perhaps the fantasy that our cities, counties and federal court systems mete out justice, is just as important for its participants as it is for those who only indirectly participate in its activities.
Consider the fantasy created around the plea bargain, which represents over 90% of all federal convictions and a similarly high percentage of state convictions. Those convicted are directed to state under oath that the “sole reason” they are accepting a plea agreement is that they are guilty – not that they are avoiding the threat of much more dire sentences should they fight their cases through to trial. Whether or not the defendant is truly guilty, everyone in the courtroom is internally aware that a preposterous lie is being told.
What would be the purpose of threatening someone with an extreme sentence and then drafting a much lower alternative if the lesser sentence was not an incentive itself? By forcing the defendant to deny the obvious (lie under oath), those in charge – judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, are condoning a fundamental corruption of the truth. If they are willing to look past lies like these on a daily basis, what else are they willing to tolerate?
I stepped off the bus and into the chilly, drab afternoon, dragging my partner toward the jail. Six months into his stay here, he was reset for a fifth time. I wondered how long he would have to wait for some semblance of justice. A day earlier I might have encouraged him to fight to the bitter end. Today I wouldn’t be so bold. Today I am unconvinced there is anything like justice; that justice is merely a facade. Tomorrow I may change my mind again. Tomorrow, maybe the mass-incarcerated who know what’s behind the facade will work together and draw back the curtains. Who else but us and our families really know?
Rick in Texas
